Green Lantern #50 – Hit-and-Miss. The return of Parallax. Well, I never said Hal Jordan was the smartest guy in the room. Brave, yes, but he has made more than his share of questionable decisions over the years. His latest – to beome Parallax again to take down the Blackest Night Spectre. Yeah, this should end well. I understand the Corps themselves is in for quite a few changes after Blackest Night ends. I’m not sure how I feel about this turn for the character (though I’m guessing it will be short-lived) so I’ll hold off judgment at least until the end of this story arc. [DC $3.99]

Dark Wolverine #82 – Worth a look. Daken has finally gotten tired of playing the good soldier and now, at the worst possible moment for Norman Osborne, things are now getting interesting. Nice back-and-forth with Bullseye, but it’s the final few panels that you’ll be talking about. [Marvel $2.99]

Okay, these comic-style 80’s albums for The Breakfast Club, Flashdance, and Purple Rain are pretty sweet. Check out Cliff Chiang’s official blog for more info and more of the artist’s work. Take a look after the jump for a couple more examples of a cool idea executed pretty damn well.

Blackest Night #6 (of 8) – Meh. I will give Geoff Johns credit for finding opportunities to make Barry Allen cool. Now I love the character to no end, but he’s never really been cool. Cool costume, yes. Barry himself, not so much. More of the rainbow corps (which grows significantly in the final pages here) vs. zombies, but nothing you’ll miss by giving this one a pass. [DC $3.99]

So yeah…. Cap’n swiped Captain America from me, so that’s out, but there’s still ample comic goodness to be talked about. I could spend waaay more time than you’ve got on this almost-a-holiday on Invicible Iron Man, Thor, Incredible Hercules, etc. etc, but I’m going to go a different route. My list is aimed at stand-alone comics and mini-series, along with what has fast become my favorite cross-title event in ages… Everything on this list is a damn fine read, so get your Christmas gift money burn list ready to go with my half of the Top 10 Comics You Should Have Read in 2009…

Rather than give you all ten at once, we’ve broken the list into two parts. After the jump you will find my half of the top ten comics you should have been reading in 2009, with alphamonkey’s take coming later. Just for clarification, we’re talking about ongoing single-issue monthly titles or mini-series (not graphic novels), which hit comic shelves in 2009. Clear? Good. Enough chit-chat! Let’s get onto the list…

Dark Wolverine #81 – Worth a look. My favorite character in Dark Reign has consistently been the new Ms. Marvel, and so the fact that this is really more of a Ms. Marvel story than a Daken one works well for me. I like the idea of Karla attempting to figure out the puzzle that is Daken, and having Daken do the only thing he knows to do – fuck with people. [Marvel $3.99]